The New Marvel: 'Avengers'

The New Marvel is a series that looks at the changes that the mega-comic empire made following the events of Avengers vs. X-Men and the impact that those changes have on the stories of Marvel NOW! Six issues (or more) into each Marvel NOW! title, we see what our favorite characters are up to and what to keep an eye out for in the future.

They have always been there for one another and the people of Earth, fighting the battles that no single hero can do alone, and while they have had several roster make-ups over the year, they have always kept up with their mission to defend the world and the innocent. Now, the two main leaders of the group—Iron Man and Captain America—make a decision to restart the entire system of heroic doings, to remake the team into a more streamlined and effective fighting force for the bigger threats. They are, always have been, and always will be the Avengers.

MINOR SPOILERS BELOW

Covering Issues #1-6

The most intriguing aspect of this new series is the system that Iron Man and Captain America put into place when dealing with large threats. The main team consists of just six members (Ironically, the six that make up the team in the 2012 movie.) with secondary and tertiary members to be called upon as things develop; however, while I like the system that has been put into place, I have to ask, why is this any different than what has already been going on for the past 40 years? There have always been reservists and second-tier members who are ready to help out at a moment’s notice, so why should this be any different than before? It isn’t; it has just been given a fancier aspect in this comic series.

Coming out of a very long run written by Bendis, it really is hard for me to get into the style of someone else such as Hickman, but I do like the artistic style that Kubert has provided. Perhaps it is because I’m such a Bendis fan, but I am not sure I really like the way Hickman writes these characters; there doesn’t seem to be as much emotional exploration and exposition with the Avengers as previously shown, the heroes going more into battle and fighting than trying to find out more information about things.

For the future, I really would like to know what’s going to happen with this new team when yet another world-ending crisis develops—which we all know will happen, it always does. Also, I’d really like to know what happened to the S.H.I.E.L.D. support and sponsorship that all of the Avenger teams were given before the events of Avengers vs. X-Men and seems to have disappeared. Cap’s no longer head cop, but that isn’t new, so this shouldn’t have gone away . . . yet it did. Little details like that kind of annoy me, especially when there’s not even a half-hearted try at an explaination. So, come on, Marvel and Hickman, let me know what’s going on.